7 Responses

I can’t believe this is happening in the USA. It’s so appalling thar lawyers are afraid of the drug companies and shut their eyes to all the deaths happening from this drug. We trust our Doctors and put our lives in their hands. The thought that they would give us a drug that ends up killing us just seems so implausible but the facts show it’s happening over and over. How can they rationalize it in their own minds. There has to be a way to get this drug off the market.

To Emily, This medication does NOT SAVE LIVES! In all cases the patient will die sooner or later. The side effects are irreversible. My husband did not have a life threatening heart condition. Any arrhythmia he suffered was caused by other drugs he was on while hospitalized. He was given the drug by IV. I was never consulted, as his proxy and if I had been, I would have looked up the side effects and refused it.. It killed him in three weeks. There was no monitoring for side effects. He was recovering and by the fourth day on the drug he did a 180.. I pray that the scales fall from your eyes. This drug is a deadly poison to all. And nothing you could say could change my mind. I feel sorry for your patients when they start exhibiting the side effects and they are ignored by you, because you mistakenly believe this drug is a life saver. Please stop murdering your patients.

I am a cardiologist and most of us use amiodarone only after we have run out of all other options. There are very few options for life treatening arrhythmias for people with coronary artery disease and weak heart contraction or for people with poor kidney function. Other antiarrythmic medications have been proven to cause more deaths in these situations than amiodarone. Alternatives are ablation which will only work in a limited number of patients or heart transplantation (and the supply of donor hearts is very limited). That leaves amiodarone as our only option to keep the person alive. Until something better comes along we need to keep amiodarone an option. I think a patient has the right to refuse amiodarone and that should be respected. Although it was not your experience, this medication does save lives. But as you know only too well, it is a double edged sword and can take them as well. Please support efforts to develop better treatments for arrythmias and the diseases that cause them.

Thank you so much for commenting!
I appreciate that you prescribe this drug as a last resort, however, there are many doctors that do not.
Medication options must be reviewed with patients and the risks too.
So, so, many times I have read on Stop Amiodarone that the patient/family has no idea of the risks of Amiodarone and when the patient exhibits symptoms the attending medical staff (that includes doctors) are unaware that Amiodarone is the culprit. That is most certainly my experience…my father took the drug for 6 months…had symptoms that were mis-diagnosed…ended up in the emergency room…mis-diagnosed again…they thought he had pneumonia and then TB. My father’s experience is not unique. I’ve heard it repeated numerous, numerous times on our Facebook page Stop Amiodarone and Topix along with a host of other side effects.

How do we stop this? So many people have suffered a terrible death because of this pill. Naturally I would support a safe alternative but in the absence of that should patients/doctors continue to take the risk of Amiodarone…the “Russian Rullet of drugs”? I don’t want to be overly dramatic here but if you have witnessed the suffocating death that Amiodarone induces, you would say avoid it at all costs. There must be a better answer and it behoves all of us to determine what it is.

Again, I really appreciate your comments!
By discussing this we can help patients arrive at the best option for them.
I hope you’ll check out our Facebook (Stop Amiodarone)page and comment there too.
My wish is that the future treatment of a-fib that does not included Amiodarone which is by definition toxic.
Susan

The flyer is up here so that you can download and print and distribute–we need to get the word out about how dangerous this drug is. Later this fall, we may try to organize a leafleting campaign during a single week–we will specify the date range, and have members from all over the country drop these flyers off at clinics, cardiologists' offices, nursing homes, senior centers, libraries, on public bulletin boards, and distribute electronically, too. If you are available to help with this project, contact Susan at the link at left.

Anything yet on finding an attorney willing and able to take on the Drug Industry, doctors, pharmacies, etc.? Everytime I send some information to someone I never get an answer. I guess not enough people have died from this "poison" yet.

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About AmiodaroneToxicity

Let’s Stop This Drug Before It Stops One More Person… Sadly, my father died 7 years ago as a result of Amiodarone. Thinking our family was alone in having this tragedy befall us, I didn’t look for others that may have had the same experience. With the advent of “social media” and the ability of […]more →